The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-02-10
THE PROGRESSIVE SOUTH.
Facts Showing Fine Prospect for the
EaE.- People of this Section.
{From the Baltimore Sun)

) Facts Showing n Zine Prospect for the
Eas.- People of this Section.
(From the Baltimore SUM-
Long before the movement from the
Northern and Middle States set in, the
Sun repeatedly called attention to tho
new field that since tho war was opened
at tho South for industrial emigration
from the States and from abroad. 1t
pointed out its vast underlying wealth |
of coal and iron ore, of limestone and |
manganese, its great deposits of kaolin |
and of copper and gold, to its variety of
woods for the constructive and decora-
tive purposes, and its thousands of acres |
of fertile soil. At that time only n few
cotton factories were Ill operation, somc |
kaolin deposits worked, and here and
there south of Virginia, where coal
mining had long been going on, some
feeble attempts made ut mining-princi.
pally in Tennessee and Alabama-where
few furnaces had been built for the
smelling Of iron ore.
1t had been demonstrated even then
that cotton fabrics of the palmer kind
could be produced at considerably less
cost than at the North, and pig iron laid
on the bank ready for delivery ut $11
per ton. The great drawback was the
want Of adequate facilities for transpor-
tatiOn to Il market, but not long after
wards some entcrprisjng and lcar-sight-
ed men, looking forward to the future
development of this mincral wealth, took
up considerable bodies of land rich in
coal and iron orc, and waited until the
time should come to utilize them. The
rapid extension Of railroads throughout
the South supplied the opportunity, and
while the Southern people of the cotton
belt were increasing the number of their
factories Ill the vicinity of the plantations
that produced the raw material, Northern
and English capitalists were descending
upon West Virginia, Tennessee and
Alabama, and putting up furnaces, to be
followed by rolling mills, in the midst
of the iron and coal deposits. Slow rs
the movement was ut first, it has iu-
creased with such rapidity that great
coke and iron furnaces now line the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Chatta-
nooga and Knoxville have now become
hives Of busy industry, and new towns,
destined to rival cities like Pittsburg,
have been founded in Alabama, which
have been christcncd birmingham and
Sheilield-nameS famous in England for
the excellence OF their manufactures OF
iron and steel. Birmingham is now the
seat of an active iron industry. 1t has
already number of largo furnaces, and
mills for rolling iron and steel are about
to be erected. 1t contains ut this time
some 5000 inhabitants. At Sheffield,
also, furnaces havo been built, streets
laid out, houses erected, stores opened,
and population is tlocking in. What is
moro important still, cheap iron is at
tractlng other industries. One of the
great stove works ut Troy, doing the
largest business OF it's kind in tho United
States, is to DC removed, or may already
have been removed, either to Alabama
or Tennessee. Other trades and MANU-
facturcs are following, notably Clark 8
works, which supplies large part of the
United States with cotton thread The
marbles OF IannCssCc, for which Knox
vile Is the principal market, are getting
= to bo in request, and SO many mnnufuC-
turing enterprises have bucn established
there that the population has increased
from $4,000 in 1882 to over 10000.
Chattanooga shows II similar Increase
and with 1T has come II speculation in
building lots on which largo profits have
been rapidly made, but which may be
carried too far unless kept within healthy
limits. Other Southern cities arc fcollnp
the impulse, though i'll II lesser degree
Lands are bringing better prices Tho
hardwood forests of Tennessee anG
North Carolina, which less than two
years ago could have been bought nj
from sixty cents to Il dollar and quar-
ter, an acre hayo been purchased by cupi
talists, who are getting ready to send tho
timber to the Eastern markets. Great
stretches of pine land farther south
within easy distance Of rail or water car
riage, have also been brought up. Al
these fact go to show that tho Soutl
has entcreI upon new era of industrial
activity nGvor known before, and that il
the course of q few years, she is destined
to become one Of the most prosperous
sections of the Union.